One dead after Tuesday rollover

A 56-year-old New Mexico woman was pronounced dead at the scene of a one-vehicle crash on State Highway 176 Tuesday morning after law enforcement officials say the vehicle she was traveling in rolled several times.

According to officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety, the accident was reported at 8:40 a.m. at a location on Highway 176, approximately 7/10 of a mile from mile marker 306, inside Howard County.

Juan D. Ontiveros, of Eunice, N.M., was driving a 2008 Ford pickup eastbound on Highway 176, according to the accident report filed by DPS Trooper Octavio Ureste, who operates out of the Stanton, Texas, DPS office.

The report states Ontiveros passed a vehicle on the roadway and, while moving back into the right-hand lane, lost control of the pickup when it hit standing water on the highway. DPS communications officers said the driver overcorrected, sending the vehicle into the north bar ditch, at which time the vehicle rolled several times.

Evangelina Ontiveros, 56, also of Eunice, N.M., was pronounced dead at the scene by Howard County Justice of the Peace Quail Dobbs at approximately 9:30 a.m. Law enforcement officials said she was the only passenger in the vehicle not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash.

Despite observations by emergency medical personnel at the scene, DPS officials could not confirm whether Evangelina Ontiveros was ejected from the vehicle during the rollover accident.

DPS officials said two other passengers were in the pickup at the time of the accident. However, no serious injuries were suffered by them or Juan Ontiveros as a result of the crash, according to the DPS accident report.

The body was taken to Myers & Smith Funeral Home in Big Spring, according to law enforcement officials, and next of kin has been notified.